Plans to tackle fitness in NSW schools include putting scales in classrooms

By Abigail Malbon| 11 months ago

NSW Education is planning a fitness overhaul for all students

Physical education in NSW schools is set to be overhauled with new routines that include classroom weigh-ins and fitness levels in report cards.

According to the Daily Telegraph, the new program would require teachers to ensure that their students are active for at least 50 percent of all physical education classes.

The move comes after a NSW Health report found that 30 percent of sport classes can be spent doing administrative tasks.

The new plans would also split classes into gender to combat self-consciousness and include more non-competitive sports such as jogging and yoga, and has been trialed in 10 schools.

Health Minister Brad Hazzard says he supports the new plans.

“The idea behind this program is to get young people and parents back to where we were probably 40 or 50 years ago,” he said.

“Regularly doing activities that will really make long-term differences to their health.

“You don’t have to be Einstein to know that exercise heads off a whole range of disease including diabetes, cancer, cardiovascular.”

He also said he believes reporting to parents on pupils’ fitness along with academic results could be successful.

A NSW Health spokesperson said the program “aims to increase high school student physical activity and limit weight gain,” after they found that the biggest decline in physical activity occurs between the ages of 13 and 18.

A trial of the program will run in 76 state and Catholic schools across the Hunter New England, Central Coast, mid-north coast and southwest Sydney regions this year. Half of the schools will be supplied sports equipment, including pedometers, to compare results with those at other schools.